


Final Flare

by StarrySerenades



Category: Disney - All Media Types
Genre: Disney, F/M, Tribute, russi taylor, wayne allwine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 04:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20057821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrySerenades/pseuds/StarrySerenades
Summary: People come and go, but the light they leave behind will never fade.RIP Russi Taylor.  Your heart was as bright as they come.





	Final Flare

Minnie Mouse’s laughter was contagious, in a way that shimmered with sun in the dark of the night. Her heart burst into every giggle and grin, a colorful blossom of kindness and joy that was unparalleled. It was the kind of laugh that could brighten any day, and add a touch of sweetness to even the most bitter of moments. 

She skipped down main street, that same laugh ringing like bells into the post midnight air. The drab residue of fatigue melted off the cast members she passed, and their eyes filled with a sort of playful sparkle. They couldn’t have known that tonight her light was shining just a little bit brighter.

A star’s final flare is always the brightest one there is.

For certain characters are born with hearts so full of light that they can’t possibly contain it all. And so, as time goes on, they share it with those they meet along the way. People whose hearts are like theirs, but are in need of a spark to reignite the fire. Little by little they gift their light, granting a flare of inspiration to those who will nurture the flame.

But inevitably, there comes a time when they have played their part in the story. And now, Minnie had a single spark left to give. 

She had savored this one for a while now. The last piece of something is always the most difficult to part with and somewhat unintentionally, she had found herself clinging to this lingering bit of warmth. It was anything but selfishness, or a desire to keep it for herself. Rather, something within her knew it needed to be saved for someone special. Many people had come looking to receive the love she so freely offered, and that was something she would never complain about. She reveled in being able to bring a smile to someone’s face. But it took a special kind of heart to arrive and  _ give  _ love instead of taking it for themselves. That sort of person, Minnie thought, deserved something special. 

She smiled softly. That was the sort of person Mickey had been. 

_ See ya real soon… _

The words echoed in her head and a choked laugh caught in her throat. 

“Ten years has felt much longer than ‘soon’…” she whispered.

A tear fell on a pillowed fluff of pink and white petals and she blinked, watching as it slipped into the flowerbed. Feathery astilbes were in full bloom around the statue tonight and as she glanced at Mickey’s stone figure, his hand forever locked in Walt’s, she couldn’t help but wonder if the flowers at his feet meant something more.

_ Are you waiting for me? _

The sound of footsteps brought her back to reality and she whirled around, hastily wiping the tears from her face. “Oh, goodness!” she giggled, instantly disguising any hint of sadness with a sugary smile. “You startled me!” 

The person before her appeared as a young boy, though in reality he was probably decently older than that. But characters like Minnie saw people not as they were, but as they truly felt. And this boy, no matter his true age, was bursting with the wonder and curiosity of a child...so that was what she saw. 

He held his hands behind his back, nervously rocking back and forth on his heels as he spoke. “Oh, uhm, sorry!” he stammered. A strange familiarity glimmered in his brown eyes, even as they darted back and forth between her face and the ground. “I just saw you standing here and, well, I...I always wanted to meet you in person. You’re a huge inspiration to me and just...well, uhm...gosh, never mind. I’m sorry, I can go if you want!” 

The smile on Minnie’s face widened and she brought her hand up to her face in a failed attempt to hide her own amusement. “Don’t be ridiculous!” she laughed lightly, lifting the corner of her dress in a petite curtsy. “It’s always a pleasure to meet new friends!” 

He stopped fidgeting for a moment and managed to meet her eyes. “Are you sure? Because I can--”

“ _ Of course, _ ” she interrupted with a wink and a dainty smile. “And I love helping my friends...so what can I do for you?” 

She expected him to pull a pen and a camera from his pockets, or for a barrage of questions to come pouring from his mouth. But he did none of those things. Instead, he scratched nervously behind his head and let out a shaky laugh. 

“Actually, I sort of had something I wanted to give  _ you _ .”

This surprised her. “Oh?” was all she managed to say, and she kicked herself internally for the seemingly short response.  _ Rude, Minnie! _

But if he’d thought her impolite, he didn’t let it show. 

“Yeah!” he answered, smiling brightly. And once again Minnie could have sworn she recognized that grin. “It’s nothing big,” he continued, “But I worked really hard on it. I’ve been holding onto it just in case...” He held out the hand he’d been hiding behind his back, a piece of paper clutched in his grasp. “Hope ya like it!”

The second her fingers brushed against the parchment and her eyes met with the colorful image skillfully sketched on the page, a chill rushed through her veins. It was  _ her _ , but not the version of herself she’d become so used to seeing in the mirror. Because the smile on this Minnie’s face and the gleam in her eyes was more than an apparition. It was a reflection of a time when her heart was whole.

She didn’t realize how long she’d been staring until the boy spoke again. She glanced up and from the look of things, he seemed to be apologizing, afraid that she was altogether unimpressed, but she barely heard a word he said. In that moment, she realized exactly who she saw in him.

Mickey had given his light more freely than anyone. He had a skill for touching the hearts who needed it most, even without ever meeting them face to face. So as Minnie stared at this boy, his passion and kindness bursting at the seams, she could see without a doubt that one such spark had found its way to him. 

And if Mickey had thought him worthy, so did she.

She laughed and cut his apology short as she threw her arms around him in a hug. “It’s perfect!” she managed to choke, barely able to keep a stream of tears at bay. 

And leaving a kiss on his cheek, she let that last spark drift away from her heart. 

Both knew something had happened, but the boy couldn’t have known just what that was. All he knew was that even as he waved goodnight, he felt a strange warmth fluttering in his chest, a flurry of fantastical scenes and stories swirling their way into his mind. 

And he couldn’t help but notice that when Minnie looked back at him and cast a final smile, it was as if she’d sprung right from the stroke of his own pen. 

~~

Minnie watched as the boy faded from sight then turned back to Mickey’s statue, clutching the drawing close to her heart. 

_ It’s time, isn’t it? _

As if to answer, a sudden chill swept across the summer night, and Minnie gasped as a gust of wind picked up a flurry of petals and tossed them into the air. Her grip on the drawing faltered and with a shout, she felt it ripped from her hands. 

“No, wait!” she yelped, racing after the stream of paper, wind, and flowers. Her red dress fluttered wildly around her legs and her breaths came in quick little gasps as she ran, desperately reaching for the drawing all the while.

And then, squinting through the darkness, she saw it. 

A billow of steam, rising over the tops of the trees. The source of the plume lay just out of sight but she knew instantly, with a flutter in her chest, what it was she was being led to find. 

She willed herself to run faster.

Her shoes pounded against the pavement and when one slipped off her foot, she kicked the other one away too and kept running. Wind buffeted her face and made her eyes water, but she blinked away the tears. Nothing could make her stop. Not now. Not when she knew who was waiting for her at the river’s edge.

A deep fog had risen from the water and she could hardly see. But the drawing and the rush of petals around it had begun to gleam with a golden hue so she followed that, wishing with all her heart they would continue to lead the way.

But then the wind stopped, the fog grew thicker, and the golden lights faded from view. 

“No, no, no…” she gasped, steps faltering. She took a few more desperate strides then stopped, completely and utterly lost in the dark. 

“No…” she whimpered softly, eyes filling with tears, then fell to the ground and buried her face in her hands.

So close...

At first it was silent. The world was quiet and empty, and she was alone. But with every tear that fell, a shimmer rippled through the fog. And little by little, the darkness before her cleared, filling instead with dappled pools of moonlight, like stepping stones reaching deeper into the night. 

Had she been looking, she would have seen the figure walking across them.

“ _ Are ya crying because ya lost something? _ ”

Her heart nearly stopped. She wanted to look, but didn’t dare for fear she’d only imagined the voice. 

“I...I guess you could say that…” she stammered quietly, then waited.

_ Silence.  _

Her heart fell. 

But then someone touched her hand, and her eyes fluttered open. 

“ _ Because I think this might be yours." _

And there he was. Kneeling beside her, fur dappled with starlight, the lost sketch laying in his outstretched palm.

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, so she let out something that was a mixture of both as she flung herself into his embrace. “Mickey!” 

He wrapped his arms around her trembling body and held her as close as he was able. “Mhm…” he murmured, tears slipping down his face as he nuzzled her cheek. “I’m here, Min...I’m here.”

Time seemed to stand still in that moment and neither wished to break the spell. So they pretended nothing else existed, and got lost in the warmth of each other’s arms. 

It was only when a deep whistle echoed through the air that Minnie brought herself to move at all, and she found Mickey staring out towards the water. He looked back at her with a sort of sadness lingering in his eyes, then blinked it away, smiled softly, and got to his feet. “Guess it’s time to go,” he chuckled, voice cracking ever so slightly. 

The Twain stood out against the black of the night, a beacon in the sea of stars.  _ Funny,  _ Minnie thought as she clutched Mickey’s hand and followed him onboard. For as far as she could remember, her journey had begun when she stepped off this ship the first time. It seemed only fitting that here it should end. 

Though... maybe it wasn't so much the end of a journey, as the start of a voyage. 

Only the beginning of the adventure. 

"Are ya ready?" Mickey asked softly, and in his eyes Minnie saw that he knew. That was a question not so easily answered. 

She looked over her shoulder at the kingdom sprawled before them. The fog had disappeared everywhere but around the edges and only a maze of light remained, castle spires rising above it all in a glittering flare of magic. 

“We’re leaving it in good hands, Min,” Mickey whispered, finally putting the drawing back in her hands. “We gave ‘em our light for a reason, y’know..” 

Minnie glanced at the sketch, then back out into the night, and soaked in one last shining view.

“I’m ready,” she finally answered quietly, a hint of excitement creeping across her lips. Sunlight was beginning to peek its way into their moonlit world, and its fire filled her with an assuredness long-forgotten. “As long as we’re together again...I’m ready for anything.”

**Author's Note:**

> In the couple weeks leading up to hearing about the heartbreaking news of Russi's passing, certain events had reignited the love I had for Minnie Mouse as a character and, of course, the voice behind her. Several days before her death I was watching videos of Russi helping out with a silly project and…just being so incredibly human in the way she joked and laughed and treated everyone around her like her closest friends. A friend of mine was telling me stories he had from knowing her. Another friend and I laughed about how irreplaceable she would be, and how glad we were that it seemed she’d be sticking around for a while. We couldn’t have known that in just a couple of days, she’d be gone. 
> 
> Words can’t capture how much Russi Taylor inspired me, but this story is my best attempt. As heartbroken as I am that she’s no longer here, I’m comforted in knowing that she’s with the one she loves…and that she left behind a piece of her heart in every person that’s been touched by her boundless kindness and joy.


End file.
